MISSIO DEI Discipleship Point

What are the essence and essentials of the Great Sending and Christ-Apostolic Authority?

SENDER: Jesus did not send Himself! He did not presume the mission Himself without His Father. God the Father sent Him and in that sending, Christ was given authority. Nor did the Holy Spirit presume the mission Himself. The Sender of the Holy Spirit was God the Father and the Son Jesus. Individual believers and the community of faith do not ascribe their mission unto themselves. Their Sender is Christ, who gives authority in His sending of the believers to be co-heirs and co-associates with Him in His mission to the world. The Sender is the initiator!

THE SENT: Jesus was a sent one and the recipient of authority; the Holy Spirit was a sent one and authorized; those who are baptized into Christ are sent ones by Jesus and are granted authority to go into the world with the Gospel.

THE SENDING NATURE (the full character and significance of "Sending"), part three:

• Sending always involves an authorized message such as reconciliation through Christ alone, the Gospel message (2 Corinthians 5:14-21)
  
• The sending always involves the providing of resources, such as the power of the Holy Spirit (John 20:22), the consistent presence of Jesus (Matthew 28:20), the Word, and prayer
  
• A core ingredient of sending is its purpose, God’s ἵνα (hina, so that), such as forgiveness, eternal life, unity with and in Christ, salvation, know God’s love, believe, etc.

A final and necessary essential of being sent is the recipient or target, the audience – that is, the world, every tribe, language, nation, and all people living on earth.

See the following Scriptures in your bible or on pages 256-257 of The Great Sending book: John 20:21-23, Galatians 4:4-5, Hebrews 2:14, 3:14, 1 Corinthians 1:9, Matthew 9:6, John 20:31, 2 Corinthians 5:14-21. (For further study, see the Second and Third Articles, the Apostle’s Creed, and the Office of the Keys, Luther’s Small Catechism.